The present invention relates to a connecting element for connecting toy structural elements having openings and advantageously constituted of wood.
A connecting element of the above-mentioned general type is known in the art. A known pin-shaped connecting element has a tubular portion with an outer diameter which is somewhat greater than the diameter of the openings of the toy structural element. The connecting element has a longitudinal slot rendering the same elastically yieldable, and a transverse slot which extends from the longitudinal slot over a part of the periphery of the portion and subdivides the latter into cooperating sections. This construction is disclosed in the U.S patent application 175,196.
When the pin-shaped connecting element has the above-mentioned construction, each section of the tubular portion is resiliently yieldable independently of the other sections. When the opening tolerances of the toy structural elements are different, each section of the connecting element is not affected by other sections and exactly fits the opening in which it is inserted. with such a connecting element it is no longer possible that the connecting element is firmly seated in one of the openings and at the same time has only a small friction or no friction at all in the other opening. Thereby the thus designed pin-shaped connecting element makes possible the connection of toy structural elements having non-uniform dimensions. When such a pin-shaped connecting element is utilized for connecting the toy structural elements, they are actually connected with one another by friction. This means that in condition of higher loading of the connection, the retention of the structural elements is no longer guaranteed.